Caldi  outu; 


n 


Press  Bulletin  Series 


For  the  Oil  and  Gas  Industry 


STATE  OF  ILLINOIS 
DEPARTMENT  OF  REGISTRATION  AND  EDUCATION 

A.  M.  SHELTON,  Director 

DIVISION  OF  THE 
STATE  GEOLOGICAL  SURVEY 

M.  M.  LEIGHTON.  Chief.   Urhana 


No.  16 


ILLINOIS  PETROLEUM 


June  30,1928 


Editor's  Note:  No  regular  schedule  will  be  followed  in  future  issues  of  "Illi- 
nois Petroleum"  but  they  will  appear  whenever  new  information  in  geology, 
petroleum  engineering,  or  development  in  drilling  and  in  oil  recovery  is  secured 
that  will  be  of  interest  to  the  oil  and  gas  industry. 

CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Recent  development  on  the  Ayers  anticline 1 

Recent  drilling  northwest  of  St.  Francisville,  Lawrence  County,  Illinois 10 

RECENT  DEVELOPMENT   ON   THE  AYERS   ANTICLINE 

By  Alfred  H.  Bell 

Introduction 

Interest  in  the  Ayers  area  (fig.  1 )  has  been  recently  revived  by  the  find- 
ing of  a  show  of  oil  during  the  deepening  of  one  of  the  wells  in  the  gas  field, 
namely  the  William  Sharp  well  No.  1  in  sec.  28,  T.  6  N.,  R.  3  W.   (fig.  4, 


Fig.  1.  Index  map  showing  the  location  of  the  two  areas  described  in  this 
report,  namely  the  Ayers  area  (A),  and  the  area  northwest  of  St.  Francis- 
ville (B).     Solid  black  shows  locations  of  other  oil  and  gas  fields. 


T„.   '  ?latcr1?!-ey'.  R;    S-'    OU    and    gas    in    Bond,    Macoupin,    and    Montgomery    counties, 
Illinois:      Illinois  State  Geol.   Survey  Bull.   28,  p.   43,   1914. 

Tii-   B.ell>   A-   H.i   Oil   possibilities   of   the  Ayers  anticline:     Illinois   State   Geol.    Survey 
Illinois  Petroleum  No.   5,  p.   15,   1926. 


ILLINOIS    GEOLOGCAL 
SURVEY  LIBRARY 


\9flU 


V  <-' 


ILLINOIS  PETROLEUM 


map  No.  8).  In  two  former  publications1  the  Survey  has  recommended  the 
Ayers  anticline  as  worthy  of  further  testing  for  oil.  The  present  paper  gives 
the  new  data  from  the  recent  drilling  and  summarizes  what  is  known  of  the 
geological  conditions  in  the  area. 


%o<M 


i      i 


<^    » 


>l 


Glacial  Drift 

and  Aliuviur. 


H 


TTvH    FireC'a" 


No  detailed  record 
Shale  and  sandy 
Shale  with  Inter- 
bedded  Lime- 
stone and 
Sandstone 


1 100—1  Illinois  State  Geological  Survey 

Fig.  2.     Generalized  columnar  section  for  the 
Ayers  area. 


iWffiffllHSPou*^ 


SURVEY 


3  3051  00005  1288 


DEVELOPMENT  ON   THE   AYERS   ANTICLINE 


Stratigraphy 

A  generalized  columnar  section  for  the  area,  down  to  the  Meramec 
series  of  the  Mississippian  system  (the  "Mississippi  lime"  of  the  drillers), 
is  given  in  figure  2.  The  surface  material  consists  of  unconsolidated  de- 
posits of  Pleistocene  age,  from  100  to  150  feet  or  more  in  thickness,  chiefly 
glacial  till  and  stream  deposits.  These  are  underlain  by  a  series  of  shales 
and  sandy  shales  with  interbedded  sandstone,  limestone,  and  coal  of  Pennsyl- 
vanian  age.  The  contact  between  Pennsylvanian  strata  and  the  underlying 
Chester  series  of  the  Mississippian  system  is  not  recognizable  in  the  logs  of 
any  of  the  wells  in  the  area,  and  accordingly  estimates  of  thickness  of  Penn- 
sylvanian and  Chester  strata  are  based  on  an  arbitrarily  assumed  position 
for  the  contact  between  them.  About  550  feet  thickness  of  strata  has  been 
assigned  to  the  Pennsylvanian.  Herrin  (No.  6)  coal  which  occurs  at  a 
depth  of  370  feet  in  Hellinger  No.  2  well  marks  the  upper  limit  of  the  Car- 
bondale  formation.  The  McLeansboro  formation  lies  above  Herrin  (No.  6) 
coal  and  has  a  thickness  of  about  250  feet.     The  combined  thickness  of  the 


Table  1. — Estimate  of  depths  to  possible  oil  and  gas  horizons  on  Ayers  Anticline' 


Depth 
Feet 

Horizons 

Remarks 

400 

1.     Pennsylvanian  sands  below  Her- 
rin (No.  6)  coal 

Produce  oil  at  Junction  City  and 
Wamac;  oil  and  gas  at  Carlin- 
ville;   and  gas  at  Staunton. 

800 

2.     Chester 

Oil  at  Frogtown,  Carlyle,  Sandoval 
and  Centralia;  gas  in  Bond  Coun- 
ty, (1)  sec.  28,  T.  6  N.,  R.  3  W., 
and  (2)  Lindley  pool,  sec.  22,  T. 
5  N.,  R.  3  W. 

900 

3.     Ste.    Genevieve    (upper    part    of 
"Mississippi     lime");     corre- 
lated   with   "McClosky    sand" 

Oil  in  Lawrence  County. 

2000 

4.     Devonian  or  Silurian 

Showings  of  oil  in  wells  in  Old 
Ripley  Township  (south  of  Ayers 
anticline). 

5.     Silurian:      "Niagara   lime"   and 
Hoing  sand 

Gas  in  Pike  County  (Pittsfield- 
Hadley  anticline)  and  oil  at  Col- 
mar. 

2650 

6.     Ordovician:    Kimmswick-Plattin 
limestone      ("Trenton      lime- 
stone") 

Oil  at  Waterloo. 

-Bell,  A.  H.,  op.  cit.,  p.  16. 


4  ILLINOIS  PETROLEUM 

Carbondale  and  Pottsville  formations  is  about  300  feet.  As  No.  2  coal, 
which  marks  the  base  of  the  Carbondale,  is  not  recorded  in  the  logs,  these 
formations  have  not  been  separated. 

The  Chester  series  consists  of  about  220  feet  of  interbedded  shale, 
sandstone,  and  limestone,  and  is  characterized  by  a  number  of  beds  of  "red 
rock"  or  red  shale.  Underlying  the  Chester  is  a  comparatively  great  thick- 
ness of  limestone,  probably  either  the  St.  Genevieve  or  St.  Louis  limestone, 
or  both,  of  the  Meramec  series.  The  Sapp  well  penetrated  110  feet  of  lime- 
stone but  the  deeper  formations  are  not  penetrated  in  this  or  the  nearby 
surrounding  territory  and  consequently  their  thickness  and  lithologic  charac- 
ter are  not  well  known.  Estimates  of  the  depth  to  each  possible  producing 
horizon  are  given  in  table  1. 

Structure 

The  structure  of  the  area  is  illustrated  by  two  contour  maps,  one  on 
Herrin  (No.  6)  coal,  figure  3,  and  the  other  on  the  lower  gas  sand,  figure  4. 


O  0..™*cl 


»l  •Sa>cr«ta,n9. 


<>o. 


Fig.  3.     Structure  map  of  Ayers  anticline,  Bond  County.     Key  horizon  Herrin 
(No.  6)   coal.      (Illinois  State  Geological  Survey.) 


DEVELOPMENT  ON   THE   A.YEES  ANTICLINE 


The  former  is  reprinted  from  Illinois  Petroleum  No.  5.  As  the  new  drilling" 
has  not  given  additional  information  on  the  structure  of  the  Pennsylvanian 
beds,  this  map  still  represents  our  most  up-to-date  interpretation.  The 
structure  map  of  the  gas  sand  (fig.  4)  is  here  presented  for  the  first  time. 
It  shows  a  narrow,  elongated  anticline   with  axis  trending  east-west   and 


R  3  w 


O 


Djmond  Drill  CoalTest 


o 


Dry  Hole 

Contours  on  Lower  Gas  Sand 


Abandoned  Gas.  Well 


Fig.  4.  Structure  map  of  part  of  the  area  shown  in  figure  3.  The  key  horizon 
is  a  sand  in  the  lower  part  of  the  Chester  series.  Contour  interval,  10  feet. 
Datum  plane,  sea-level. 


ILLINOIS  PETROLEUM 


Table  2. — Well  data 


Surface 

Upper  sand 

Map 
No. 

Sec. 

Company 

Farm  and  No. 

elevation 

above 
sea-level 

Depth 
Feet 

Alti- 
tude 
Feet 

Thick- 
ness 
Feet 

1 

21 

Ohio 

Sapp  1 

542 

0 

2 

28 

Bond  Co.  Gas 

Wharton 

546 

0 

3 

28 

Bond  Co.  Gas 

Alderman 

518 

0 

4 

28 

Ohio 

Alderman 

518 

0 

5 

28 

Bond  Co.  Gas 

Stowe 

551 

0 

6 

28 

Bond  Co.  Gas 

Hellinger  1 

553 

894 

—341 

6 

7 

28 

Bond  Co.  Gas 

Hellinger  2 

528 

867 

—339 

9 

8 

28 

Bond  Co.  Gas 

Sharp  1 

551 

907 

—356 

10 

9 

28 

Bond  Co.  Gas 

Warlick  1 

532 

0 

10 

21 

Ohio 

F.  V.  Cary 

apparently  coinciding  with  the  axis  of  the  anticline  shown  in  figure  3.  The 
dips  shown  in  figure  4  are,  however,  considerably  steeper  than  are  those  of 
the  coal  ( fig.  3 )  in  the  surrounding  territory.  In  this  respect  structural  con- 
ditions are  similar  to  those  in  the  Lindley  gas  field  five  and  a  half  miles  south. 
The  data  on  which  the  structure  map  of  the  gas  sand  was  based  are  given 
in  table  2. 

Development 
ohio  oil  company 


Three  test  wells  were  drilled  by  the  Ohio  Oil  Company  in  the  area  in 
1917:  (1)  The  H.  E.  Sapp  well  in  the  SE.  corner  NW.  V4  NE.  J4  sec.  21, 
T.  6  N.,  R.  3  W.  (fig.  4,  map  No.  1)  ;  (2)  the  Alderman  well  in  the  NW.  j4 
NE.  yA  sec.  28  (map  No.  4),  and;  (3)  the  F.  V.  Cary  well  in  the  NE.  ]/A 
SE.  Y\  sec.  21  (map  No.  10).  The  first  of  these  had  a  show  of  oil  from 
952  to  956  feet  in  a  sand  which  may  be  the  producing  sand  of  the  gas  field; 
the  second  had  gas  in  sand  from  901  to  911  feet  and  water  from  911  to  936 
feet ;  the  third  had  no  showing  of  oil  or  gas.  All  three  of  the  wells  pene- 
trated about  100  feet  of  "Mississippi  lime." 


DEVELOPMENT   ON    THE   AYKRS   ANTICLINE 


of  the  Ayers  yas  field 

Lower  sand 

Total 
depth 
Feet 

Depth 

Alti- 
tude 
Feet 

Thickness  drilled 

Remarks 

Feet 

Feet 

952 

—410 

4 

1100 

Show  of  live  oil 

926 

—380 

2 

926 

Gas  well,  abandoned 

898 

—380 

6 

1060 

Gas  well,  abandoned 

901 

—383 

10  gas-bearing;    25   wa- 
ter-bearing 

1150 

Gas  found  but  not  used;    drilled 
to  "Mississippi  lime" 

934 

—383 

13  show   gas;    4   water- 
bearing 

951 
900 

Gas  show — dry  hole 

Gas  producer 

Gas  producer;   formerly  from  up- 

890 

—362 

5  gas 

895 

per  sand,  now  from  lower  sand 

944 

—393 

3  oil-bearing;    20    wa- 
ter-bearing 

1004 

Gas   producer   from   upper   sand; 
oil   show   in  lower  sand;    aban- 
doned 

913 

—381 

10  show  gas;    7  water- 
bearing 

930 

Gas  show — dry  hole 

1 

? 

1090 

Dry 

BOND  COUNTY  GAS  COMPANY 

Several  years  later  the  Bond  County  Gas  Company  began  operations  in 
the  territory.  Their  first  well  was  the  Wharton,  located  in  the  NE.  l/x 
NE.  54  sec.  28  (fig.  -i,  map  No.  2).  Gas  at  a  pressure  of  3.">()  pounds  per 
square  inch  was  found  in  a  sand  from  926  to  928  feet.  Later  several  more 
gas  wells  were  drilled  in  the  adjacent  territory  to  the  west.  During  1923 
and  1924  six  gas  wells  and  one  dry  hole,  the  Stowe  No.  1  (map  No.  5), 
were  drilled.  The  gas  produced  was  used  to  supply  the  town  of  Greenville. 
The  encroachment  of  water  in  the  gas  sand  gave  trouble,  however,  and  the 
natural  gas  had  to  be  supplemented  by  manufactured  gas.  It  is  reported  that 
the  Wharton  and  Alderman  wells  still  had  gas  pressures  of  approximately 
150  pounds  per  square  inch  at  the  time  they  were  abandoned. 

In  1927  and  1928  a  program  of  cleaning  out  and  deepening  some  of  the 
wells  was  undertaken  by  the  Bond  County  Gas  Company.  As  a  result,  a 
supply  of  gas  adequate  for  the  town  of  Greenville  is  now  being  obtained  from 
two  wells,  Hellinger  Nos.  1  and  2  (fig.  4,  map  Nos.  6  and  7).  These  two 
wells  and  the  Sharp  No.  1  (map  No.  8)  originally  produced  gas  from  an 
upper  sand,  a  few  feet  higher  in  the  stratigraphic  section  than  the  producing 
sand  of  the  Wharton  and  Alderman  wells.     This  upper  sand  is  not  reported 


ILLINOIS    J'KTROLEUM 


present  in  the  logs  of  any  of  the  wells  other  than  the  three  mentioned  above, 
and  on  account  of  its  restricted  lateral  occurrence  it  has  been  called  a  stray- 
sand.  Hellinger  No.  1  was  not  deepened  but  was  cleaned  out  in  the  upper 
sand  and  it  is  now  producing  gas  at  a  pressure  of  150  pounds  per  square 
inch.  Hellinger  No.  2  was  deepened  and  gas  at  a  pressure  of  350  pounds 
per  square  inch  was  found  in  the  lower  sand.  In  deepening  the  Sharp  well 
the  interval  from  the  upper  to  the  lower  sand  was  found  to  be  37  feet  as 
compared  with  23  feet  in  Hellinger  No.  2  well.  This  sand  was  drilled  in 
on  April  20,  1928,  from  944  to  951  feet,  and  the  well  filled  up  about  two- 
thirds  full  of  fluid,  mainly  brackish  water.  It  was  bailed  down  a  number 
of  times  in  the  next  few  days  and  several  gallons  of  oil  settled  out.  The  oil 
has  a  gravity  of  32.5  degrees  Baume.  The  well  was  drilled  to  1004  feet 
and  the  project  of  drilling  to  the  "Mississippi  lime"  had  to  be  abandoned 
because  the  hole  was  crooked. 

One  dry  hole  was  drilled  in  1927-28,  the  P.  L.  Warlick  No.  1  (fig.  4, 
map  No.  9).  A  show  of  gas  was  found  in  sand  from  913  to  923  feet,  and 
salt  water  in  sand  from  923  to  930  feet.  The  well  was  plugged  and  aban- 
doned at  this  depth. 

Producing  Sands 

The  gas  in  the  Ayers  gas  field  comes  from  two  sands  in  the  Chester 
series.  The  lower  sand  is  present  in  all  of  the  wells  in  the  area  and  lies  66 
feet  above  the  top  of  the  "Mississippi  lime"  in  the  Bond  County  Gas  Com- 
pany's Alderman  well  (fig.  4,  map  No.  3).  The  upper  sand,  as  mentioned 
above,  was  found  in  only  three  of  the  wells  in  the  area. 

Samples  of  the  producing  sand  from  most  of  the  Bond  County  Gas 
Company's  wells  were  studied.  It  is  a  fine  to  very  fine-grained,  well-bedded 
sand,  light  greenish-gray  in  color,  sometimes  brown.  It  is  partly  calcareous 
and  partly  noncalcareous,  but  the  calcite  content  is  not  high.  Some  clayey 
material  is  present  and  pyrite,  limonite,  mica,  and  glauconite  occur  as  acces- 
sory minerals.  Porosity  determinations  were  not  attempted  on  account  of 
the  small  size  of  the  pieces  available,  and  variations  in  porosity  were  not 
detected  by  examination  under  the  binocular  microscope.  The  fact  that 
there  are  considerable  differences  in  the  gas  pressures  in  the  same  sand  in 
nearby  wells  shows  that  there  are  variations  in  the  permeability  of  the  sand. 
Parts  of  it  appear  to  be  virtually  sealed  off  from  other  parts  by  impervious 
streaks.  No  differences  in  lithologic  character  were  noted  between  the  upper 
and  lower  sands. 

Recommendations 

4  nere  still  remains  a  considerable  untested  area  on  the  Ayers  anticline. 
Formerly  the  presence  of  oil  on  or  near  the  top  of  the  structure  had  not  been 
demonstrated;  the  nearest  showing  of  oil  was  that  found  in  the  Sapp  well 


DEVELOPMENT  OX   THE   AYERS   ANTICLINE  V 

in  sec.  21.  T.  6  N.,  R.  3  W.  (fig.  4,  map  No.  1),  down  on  the  north  flank 
of  the  anticline.  Moreover,  the  gas  obtained  from  the  field  was  apparently 
"drv"  gas  for  no  condensation  of  gasoline  was  found  in  the  pipe  line  in  cold 
weather.  The  recent  finding  of  the  show  of  oil  in  the  Sharp  well  suggests 
the  possibility  that  oil  may  exist  in  commercial  quantities  in  the  same  sand 
somewhere  else  on  the  anticline.  As  no  tests  deeper  than  the  Ste.  Genevieve 
or  St.  Louis  limestone  have  been  drilled  on  the  structure  the  possible  deeper 
producing  beds  remain  untested. 

The  structure,  especially  the  west  part  in  sees.  20  and  19,  T.  6  N.,  R.  3 
\\\,  and  sec.  24,  T.  6  N.f  R.  4  W.,  is  known  only  in  general  outline  and  the 
details  are  largely  unknown.  It  is  believed  that  the  most  efficient  way  in 
which  the  anticline  may  be  thoroughly  tested  is  first  to  determine  structure  in 
greater  detail  by  means  of  a  number  of  shallow  tests  to  Herrin  (No.  6)  coal 
and  then  to  make  the  location  for  one  or  more  deep  tests  on  the  basis  of  the 
more  complete  knowledge  of  structure  so  obtained.  The  advantage  of  such 
procedure  over  the  more  ordinary  one  of  locating  deep  tests  without  know- 
ledge of  structural  details  has  been  well  demonstrated  in  the  mid-continent 
oil  fields  but  so  far  the  structure  drilling  plan  has  not  been  adopted  to  any 
extent  by  Illinois  oil  operators.  A  discussion  of  the  question  and  a  tabular 
comparison  of  costs  are  given  in  a  former  publication.3  In  view  of  the  suc- 
cess of  structure  testing  by  shallow  drilling  in  bringing  in  new  pools  and 
extending  old  ones  in  the  mid-continent  field,  it  is  believed  that  its  possibili- 
ties for  success  in  Illinois  would  justify  its  adoption. 


'•'■  Moulton,  Gail  F.,  Proper  testing  for  oil  structures  in  Illinois  and  some  areas  de- 
serving such  testing:  Illinois  State  Geol.  Survey  Report  of  Investigations  No.  6, 
pp,    6-9,    1925. 


10  ILLINOIS  PETROLECM 

RECENT  DRILLING  NORTHWEST  OF  ST.   FRANCISVILLE, 
LAWRENCE  COUNTY,  ILLINOIS 

By  Alfred   H.   Bell 

General  Statement 

The  success  of  recent  drilling  in  sec.  7,  T.  2  N.,  R.  11  W.,  suggests 
that  some  of  the  territory  in  sees.  7  and  8,  formerly  considered  condemned, 
in  reality  has  good  possibilities  of  commercial  oil  production.  This  area  is 
located  in  southeastern  Lawrence  County  southwest  of  the  Murphy  pool 
and  northwest  of  St.  Francisville.  It  was  the  scene  of  great  drilling  activity 
after  the  discovery,  on  April  6,  1914,  of  a  3100  barrel  well  on  the  M.  J. 
Murphy  farm  in  sec.  5,  T.  2  N.,  R.  11  W.  at  a  depth  of  183.")  feet  in  the 
McClosky  sand.  On  account  of  the  large  initial  production  of  several  of 
the  wells  in  the  Murphy  pool,  and  the  expectation  of  similar  large  produc- 
tion in  the  adjacent  territory  to  the  south  and  southwest,  a  number  of  wells 
in  sees.  7  and  8  were  abandoned,  although,  according  to  current  reports,  most 
of  them  had  enough  oil  in  the  Kirkwood  sand  to  give  production  on  a  com- 
mercial scale.  The  index  map  (fig.  1,  p.  1)  shows  the  location  of  the 
area  (B)  described  in  this  report  and  its  relation  to  adjacent  oil  and  gas 
fields. 

The  Survey  published  geological  reports  on  the  Lawrence  County  oil 
fields  in  19131  and  1  !)!(>.-  The  present  paper  gives  a  summary  of  the  data 
on  the  old  and  new  drilling  in  an  area  of  five  sections  in  the  northwest  part 
of  Dcnnioon  Township  ( T.  2  N.,  R.  1 1  W.-K  Lawrence  County,  and  dis- 
cusses the  geological  conditions  in  their  bearing  on  prospects  for  new  pro- 
duction. 

Structure 

The  structure  of  the  area  is  illustrated  in  figure  5  by  contours,  with  a 
20-foot  interval,  showing  the  elevation  of  the  top  of  the  Kirkwood  sand.  In 
the  north  part  of  sees.  7  and  8  the  contours  are  taken  from  plate  VIII, 
Bulletin  33,  but  have  been  renumbered  with  reference  to  sea-level  instead 
of  to  a  datum  plane  1500  feet  below  sea-level.  The  data  on  which  the  map 
is  based  are  given  in  table  3.  On  account  of  the  lack  of  detailed  logs  of  any 
of  the  wells  except  the  three  in  the  north  part  of  sec.  18  the  correlation  of 
the  Kirkwood  sand  is  in  some  places  uncertain.  All  of  the  datum  points 
except  two  were  based  on  sand  records  in  which  the  sands  were  identified 
by  the  drillers.     Over  most  of  the  area  the  map   (fig.  5)   shows  a  general 


1  Blatchley,   R.   S.,   Oil   fields   of   Crawford   and   Lawrence   counties:        Illinois    State 
Geol.   Survey  Bull.   22,   1913. 

2  Rich,  J.   L.,   Oil  and   gas   in   the  Vincennes  quadrangle:      Illinois   State   Geol.    Sur- 
vey Bull.   33,   pp.   147-180,   1916. 


RECENT   DRILLING    NORTHWEST   OF   ST.    FRANCISVILLE 


11 


dip  to  the  south,  which  is  in  accordance  with  the  known  regional  dip  in  the 
surrounding  area.  The  features  of  special  interest  are:  (1)  an  anticlinal 
nose  in  the  S.  l/2  NE.  Y\  sec.  7  and  adjacent  part  of  sec.  8;  and  (2)  a  flat 
or  terrace  in  the  SW.  *4  sec.  7  and  N.  Yz  sec.  18. 


R  11  w 


<>^7a^^o 


is°o^      _  ___ 


.^-4220—  -fie 


s*. 


y 


>> 


/ 


<* 


/    8 


17 


>V 


• 

Producing  Well 

A 

Dry  Hole 

£ 

Dry  Hole  -Show  of  Oil 

e 

Drilling  Well 

« 

Area  of  production 
from  Kirkwood  Sand 

• 

Area  of  production 
from  McClosky  Sand 

T 

Contours  on  top  of 

2 

^—  — 

Kirkwood  Sand 

N 

>>s  State  Geological  Survey 
1  mile 


Fig.  5.     Structure  map  of  area  southwest  of  Murphy  pool;   key  horizon  top  of 
Kirkwood  sand.     Contour  interval   20  feet.     Datum   sea-level. 

On  account  of  the  meagre  information  availahle  on  the  McClosky  sand 
it  was  not  found  possible  to  make  a  satisfactory  structure  contour  map  using 
it  as  key  bed.  Its  structure  seems  to  be  similar  to  that  of  the  Kirkwood 
sand  in  at  least  part  of  the  area,  as  it  rises  to  the  north  from  the  Hunt  et  al., 
Des  Boeuf  well  Xo.  1  (fig.  5,  map  No.  21)  to  the  George  L.  Barnett  wells 
(table  of  well  data.  Xos.  -4  and  5)  in  the  NE.  l/\.  sec.  T. 

Oil  Sands 

Oil  is  produced  in  the  area  from  two  horizons,  the  Kirkwood  sand  in 
the  lower  part   of   the  Chester  series,   and  the   McClosky   sand   in   the   Ste. 


12 


ILLINOIS  PETROLEUM 


Genevieve  limestone  of  the  Meramec  series.     Other  sands,  notably  the  Tracy 
and  certain  Pennsylvanian  sands,  have  given  shows  of  oil. 

MC  CLOSKY  SAND 

The  McClosky  sand  is  said  to  have  yielded  the  largest  initial  produc- 
tions of  any  of  the  producing  sands  in  Illinois.3     In  discussing  the  McClosky 

3Biatchiey,  R.  s.,  op.  cit,  p.  113.  Table  3. — Well  data  on  area 


Map 
No. 

Year 
drilled 

No. 
Sec. 

Company 

Farm  and  No. 

Eleva- 
tion 
Feet 

1 

1914 

7 

T.  L.  Hartman 

W.  V.  Griggs  2 

421  (?) 

2 

9 

7 

Borough 

W.  V.  Griggs  2 

421 

3 

1912 

7 

Titus  et  al. 

J.  Des  Boeuf  1 

502 

"4 

1915 

7 

Ohio  Oil 

Geo.  L.  Barnett  5 

458 

a5 

1915 

7 

Ohio  Oil 

Geo.  L.  Barnett  6 

461 

6 

1909 

7 

Ohio  Oil 

Nancy  Buchanan  1 

416 

7 

1914 

7 

? 

Nancy  Buchanan  1 

466 

8 

1914 

7 

? 

Nancy  Buchanan  2 

443 

9 

1914 

7 

1 

Nancy  Buchanan  3 

467 

10 

1915 

7 

9 

Nancy  Buchanan  4 

? 

11 

1928 

7 

Bolton  et  al. 

J.  Des  Boeuf 

501 

12 

1914 

8 

Octo 

Chas.  Garvey  1 

455 

13 

1914 

8 

Octo 

Chas.  Garvey  2 

426 

14 

1914 

8 

Octo 

Chas.  Garvey  3 

409 

15 

1909 

8 

Ohio  Oil 

Geo.  L.  Barnett  2 

442 

16 

1909 

8 

Ohio  Oil 

A.  B.  Jordan  1 

440 

17 

1914 

8 

Ohio  Oil 

A.  B.  Jordan  8 

454 

18 

1914 

8 

Ohio  Oil 

A.  B.  Jordan  14 

451 

19 

1914 

17 

Lewis  Oil  &  Gas 

M.  A.  Morris  1 

453 

20 

1915 

18 

? 

Tobias  Ramsey  1 

444 

21 

1922 

18 

Hunt  et  al. 

J.  J.  Des  Boeuf  1 

462 

22 

1928 

18 

Shelton  Oil  &  Gas 

J.  J.  Des  Boeuf  1 

483 

23 

1928 

18 

Shelton  Oil  &  Gas 

J.  J.  Des  Boeuf  2 

502 

a  As  the  exact  location  of  the  two  wells  on  the  Geo.  L.  Barnett  farm  is  not  known 


RECENT    DRILLING    NORTHWEST   OF    ST.    FRANC'ISVILLE 


13 


horizon,  Rich  says4 :  "The  McClosky  oil  comes  from  a  thin  sandstone,  or 
in  places,  apparently  from  a  soft,  oolitic  limestone  in  the  upper  part  of  the 
Ste.  Genevieve  formation.  The  productive  horizon  is  commonly  thin,  rang- 
ing from  2  to  10  feet  in  the  Murphy  pool  and  averaging  not  more  than  10 


*  Rich,  J.  L.,  op.  cit.,  pp.   15S,  159. 
northwest  of  St.  Franeisville 


Kirkwood  sand 

McClosky  sand 

Depth 
Feet 

Alti- 
tude 
Feet 

Thick- 
ness re- 
corded 
Feet 

5 

Depth 
Feet 

Thick- 
ness 
recorded 
Feet 

Remarks 

1624 

—1203 

1862 

10 

Oil  production  from  McClosky 

not  recorded 

80 

1866 

2 

Oil  show  from  McClosky.     Small  show  of 

oil  at  two  places  in  Kirkwood 

1742 

—1240 

2 

not  dn 

lied   (?) 

"Rich  black  oil  in  Kirkwood."  Smell  of 
oil  in  Tracy   (?).     Not  producing  well 

1621 

—1163 

64 

1818 

6 

Show  of  oil  in  McClosky 

1631 

—1170 

29 

1840 

3 

Show  of  gas  in  McClosky 

1565 

—1149 

65 

not  drilled 

Dry  hole 

1624 

—1158 

39 

not  drilled 

Production  from  Kirkwood 

1601 

—1158 

23 

not  drilled 

1 

Production  from  Kirkwood — oil  show  in 
Ridgley  at  1230-51  feet 

1625 

—1158 

20 

not  drilled 

Dry  hole 

no  record 

no  record 

Dry  hole — no  shows  of  oil 

drilling  (June, 

1928) 

1636 

—1181 

18 

1879 

3 

Oil  production  from  Kirkwood;  small 
show  of  oil  in  McClosky.  T.  D.  2010  feet 

1610 

—1184 

20 

1829 

? 

1584 

—1175 

10 

no  record 

Dry  hole 

1600 

—1158 

38 

not  drilled 

Oil  production  from  Kirkwood;  best  oil 
at  1630  feet 

1605 

—1165 

35 

not  drilled 

Dry  hole.    T.  D.  1641  feet 

absent  (?) 

1860 

10 

Dry  hole.  Show  of  gas  1860-1862  feet; 
salt  water  1862-1870  feet.  T.  D.  1900  feet 

absent  (?) 

1842 

4 

Oil  production  from  McClosky 

no  record 

no  record      20 

Dry  hole.     No  water  in  Kirkwood.     T.  D. 

1 

1990  feet 

absent  (?) 

1852 

12 

Dry  hole:     sand  logged  as  Kirkwood  at 

1730  is  probably  Tracy;  water  and  show 

of   oil;    McClosky   sand   dry,   good   tex- 

ture.   T.  D.  1913  feet. 

1693 

—1231 

67 

1905 

74 

Oil  production  from  McClosky 

1719 

—1236 

23 

not  drilled 

Oil  production  from  Kirkwood 

not  yet 

drilled 

not  < 

Irilled 

Show  of  oil  in  Bridgeport — drilling 

they   have  been  omitted  from   the  map.      The   Harnett   farm   is   in   the  NE.    %    of   sec.    7. 


14  ILLINOIS  PETROLEUM 

feet  over  the  entire  field.  It  is  clearly  not  a  single  bed  everywhere.  It  is 
rather  a  zone  in  the  upper  part  of  the  Ste.  Genevieve  formation,  in  which 
here  one,  there  another,  bed  carries  the  oil,  the  porosity  of  the  rock  being 
evidently  the  controlling  factor.  Within  this  zone,  which  has  a  maximum 
observed  thickness  of  80  feet,  one  to  three  oil-bearing  horizons  are  reported. 
In  nearby  wells  it  is  not  uncommonly  found  that  in  one  well  the  upper 
porous  zone  is  productive;  in  another  the  lower....  The  McClosky  oil  is 
green,  with  a  large  sulphur  content,  and  its  gas  has  a  rank  odor." 

TRACY  SAND 

The  Tracy  sand  is  intermediate  in  position  between  the  McClosky  and 
the  Kirkwood  sands.  It  has  been  defined  as  "a  soft,  calcareous  sandstone, 
in  the  lower  part  of  the  Chester  group,  which  lies  on  the  average  from  100 
to  118  feet  above  the  upper  productive  horizon  of  the  McClosky  sand."5 
The  Tracy  sand  has  not  been  reported  in  any  of  the  wells  in  the  area,  but  a 
comparison  of  the  sand  record  of  the  Titus  et  al.,  Des  Boeuf  No.  1  well 
(SE.  corner  sec.  ?)  (fig.  5,  map  No.  3)  with  the  log  of  the  Hunt  et  al.,  Des 
Boeuf  No.  1  well  in  sec.  18  (fig.  5,  map  No.  21)  strongly  suggests  that  the 
sand  called  McClosky  in  the  former  well  is  in  reality  the  Tracy  sand,  and 
that  the  McClosky  sand  has  not  yet  been  tested  in  the  SE.  corner  sec.  7. 
A  smell  of  oil  was  reported  in  the  (probable)  Tracy  sand.  The  Tobias 
Ramsey  No.  1  well  in  the  south  part  of  sec.  18  (fig.  5,  map  No.  20)  had  a 
show  of  oil  in  a  sand  which  has  the  approximate  stratigraphic  position  of 
the  Tracy. 

KIRKWOOD   SAND 

The  Kirkwood  is  the  most  prolific  sand  in  the  Lawrence  County  field. 
It  lies  on  the  average  200  to  230  feet  above  the  upper  lens  of  the  McClosky 
sand.     Rich  says  :° 

"In  several  localities  within  the  (Vincennes)  quadrangle  the  Kirkwood 
sand  is  lenticular,  having  in  many  places  two  and  even  three  lenses.  In  some 
places  the  lower,  in  others  the  upper,  beds  are  developed.  The  thickness  of 
the  sand  also  varies  greatly,  ranging  from  0  to  100  feet.  •  The  average  thick- 
ness has  been  computed  by  Blatchley  to  be  33  feet.  Owing  to  irregular 
thickening  and  thinning  both  the  top  and  the  bottom  of  the  sand  bed  or  beds 
are  irregular.  On  account  of  this  irregularity  and  of  the  replacing  of  one 
lens  here  and  there  by  another  higher  or  lower  in  the  series,  contours  drawn 
on  the  top  of  the  Kirkwood  sand  show  many  irregularities  which  should  not 
be  interpreted  as  structural  features  of  the  rock  formations  as  a  whole.  The 
contours  do,  however,  represent  with  the  greatest  attainable  accuracy  the 


5  Rich,  J.   L.,  op.  cit.,  p.   160. 

6  Rich,  J.  L.,  op.  cit.,  p.   160. 


RECENT    DIUI.LING    NORTHWEST   OF    ST.    FEANCISVTIXE  15 

elevation    at    the    various    localities    of    the    upper    sand   of    the    Kirk  wood 
horizon." 

"The  Kirkwood  sand  is  a  medium,  fine-grained  sand  often  called  the 
'sugar'  sand  because  it  resembles  brown  sugar  in  the  churn-drill  samples .  .  . 
The  ...  oil  is  generally  considered  sweet  oil  which  is  more  free  from  sulphur 
than  is  the  oil  from  the  lower  sand."7 

Several  of  the  wells  in  the  area  (table  3,  well  No.  4  and  fig.  5,  map  Nos. 
6  and  21)  had  about  65  feet  of  Kirkwood  sand,  divided  approximately  in  the 
middle  by  a  "break"  of  4  to  12  feet  of  shale.  In  southeastern  Lawrence 
County  the  part  above  the  shale  is  generally  oil-bearing  and  the  part  below  is 
water-bearing. 

PENNSYLVANIAN  SANDS 

The  Buchanan  sand  which  lies  at  the  base  of  the  Pottsville  formation  is 
invariably  water-bearing  in  the  area.  The  Bridgeport  sand,  also  in  the  Potts- 
ville formation  but  about  250  feet  above  the  Buchanan,  is  generally  water- 
bearing, but  in  at  least  one  well  in  the  area,  the  Shelton  Oil  and  Gas  Com- 
pany, Des  Boeuf  Xo.  2  in  sec.  18  (fig.  5,  map  No.  23),  it  had  a  considerable 
show  of  oil. 

Recent  Development 

The  Shelton  Oil  and  Gas  Company  drilled  two  wells  on  the  Des  Boeuf 
farm  in  sec.  18  in  1928.  The  first  of  these  (fig.  5,  map  No.  22)  had  a  show 
of  oil  in  a  sand  from  905  to  920  feet  and  had  an  initial  production  of  35 
barrels  per  day  natural  in  the  Kirkwood  sand  from  1719  to  1742  feet.  It 
was  shot  with  40  quarts  of  nitroglycerin  and  apparently  the  shot  penetrated 
the  lower,  water-bearing  part  of  the  Kirkwood  sand  for  water  came  in  in 
considerable  quantity  and  the  well  produced  only  3  or  4  barrels  of  oil  a  day. 
After  being  cleaned  out  the  well  produced  a  steadily  increasing  amount  of 
oil.  The  second  well  (fig.  5,  Xo.  23)  produced  at  an  initial  rate  of  24 
barrels  per  day  from  the  Bridgeport  sand,  from  1012  to  1025  feet.  After 
shooting  with  40  quarts  of  nitroglycerin  water  came  in  and  oil  production 
stopped.  The  well  is  to  be  deepened  to  the  Kirkwood  or  possibly  to  the 
McClosky  sand. 

A  well  drilled  in  1922  on  the  Des  Boeuf  farm  in  sec.  18  (fig.  5,  map 
Xo.  21)  had  an  initial  production  of  9  barrels  a  day  from  the  McClosky 
sand.  Since  then  it  has  produced  steadily  and  is  now  making  5  barrels  a 
day.     The  following  is  the  driller's  log  of  this  well : 


7  Blatchley,  R.   S.,   Unpublished  data,  quoted  by  Rich,   J.   L.,  op.  tit.,  p.   161. 


16 


ILLINOIS  PETROLEUM 


Log  of  Hunt  et  al.  Des  Boeuf  well  No.  1,  sec.  18,  T.  2  N..  R.  11  W. 

(Elevation  462  feet) 

Thickness      Depth 

Feet  Feet 

Soil    6  6 

"Slate",  blue   14  20 

Gravel    1  21 

"Slate",  blue   21  42 

Sand    53  95 

"Slate"  and  coal  (water) 5  100 

Sand    63  163 

"Slate",  blue   77  240 

Lime,   soft    10  250 

"Slate",  black,  soft 9  259 

Lime,    hard    13  272 

"Slate",  blue,   soft 12  284 

Lime,  hard    6  290 

"Slate",   white    4  294 

Lime,  soft    14  308 

"Slate",  black  28  336 

Lime    10  346 

"Slate",   light    62  408 

Coal    2  410 

Lime    2  412 

"Slate",   light    13  425 

"Slate",   dark    10  435 

Sand    34  469 

"Slate",  black   38  608 

"Slate",  white  7  615 

Lime    20  635 

"Slate",   light    75  710 

"Slate",  black   15  725 

"Slate",   light    10  735 

"Slate",   dark    35  770 

Sand    30  800 

"Slate",  black  5  805 

Lime    10  815 

"Slate",   light    55  870 

Sand,  white,  soft    (water) 20  890 

"Slate"    8  898 

Sand    28  926 

"Slate",   white    4  930 

"Slate",   black  13  943 

Lime    6  949 

Sand    (oil)    11  960 

Lime    12  972 

Sand    ( water )    45  1017 

"Slate"    5  1022 

Lime    2  1024 

Sand    15  1039 


RECENT    DHILLING    NORTHWEST   OF    ST.    FRANC  IS  VILLK  17 

Log  of  Hunt  et  al.  Des  Boruf  well  Xo.  1.  see.  IX.  T.  2  N.,  R.  11  W  —  Concluded 

Thickness      Depth 

Feet  Feet 

"Slate"    16  1055 

Sand    (water)    28  1083 

"Slate"    2  1085 

Sand   (water)    27  1112 

"Slate"    12  1124 

Lime    3  1127 

"Slate"    38  1165 

Sand    (water)    15  1180 

"Slate",  black   80  1260 

"Slate",   light    10  1270 

Lime,   light    3  1273 

"Slate"    22  1295 

Lime    3  1298 

Sand   (water)    24  1322 

"Slate",   dark    5  1327 

Lime    13  1340 

"Slate"     8  1348 

Lime  and  sand 27  1375 

Sand    (water)    23  1398 

"Slate"    10  1408 

Sand    67  1475 

Lime,  brown,   hard 15  1490 

Lime,  blue   68  1558 

Sand    65  1623 

"Slate"    24  1647 

Lime,  hard 14  1661 

"Slate"    19  1680 

Lime    13  1693 

Kirkwood    Sand     29  1722 

"Slate"    2  1724 

Sand    ( water )    36  1760 

"Slate"    6  1766 

Sand,   broken    6  1772 

Lime    21  1793 

Sand    40  1833 

"Slate"    9  1842 

Lime,   hard    8  1850 

Shale,    red    3  1853 

Lime    5  1858 

"Slate"    3  1861 

Lime    5  1866 

"Slate"    2  1868 

Lime    17  1885 

Small  show  oil 1856-1881 

"Slate"    4  1889 

Lime    16  1905 

McClosky    Sand    74  1979 


18  ILLINOIS  PETROLEUM 

Correlation:  The  base  of  the  Pennsylvanian  system  is  probably  at  1475  feet; 
the  base  of  the  Chester  series  is  somewhere  between  1853  and  1905  feet.  Identifi- 
cation of  sands  was  made  by  driller. 

A  new  well  is  being  drilled  by  Bolton  and  others  on  the  Des  Boeuf  farm 
100  feet  west  and  7 70  feet  north  of  the  SE.  corner  sec.  7  (fig.  5,  map 
No.  11). 

Prospects  for  New  Production 

In  view  of  the  steady  production  for  six  years  from  the  McClosky  sand 
in  the  Hunt  et  al.  Des.  Boeuf  well  in  sec.  18  (fig.  5,  map  No.  21),  and  of 
the  probable  rise  of  this  formation  to  the  north,  prospects  for  McClosky 
production  in  most  of  the  SE.  34  sec.  7  appear  to  be  good  if  the  sand  con- 
tinues porous.  As  it  is  probable  that  the  McClosky  sand  was  not  tested  in 
the  Titus  et  al.  Des  Boeuf  well  (fig.  5,  map  No.  3)  there  is  a  possibility  that 
McClosky  production  may  be  extended  eastward  into  the  SW.  34  sec.  8. 

As  commercial  production  from  the  Kirkwood  sand  was  found  in  the 
Shelton  Oil  and  Gas  Company  Des  Boeuf  No.  1.  (fig.  5,  map  No.  22),  and 
"rich  black  oil"  was  reported  in  this  sand  in  the  Titus  et  al.  Des  Boeuf  No. 
1  (fig.  5,  map  No.  3),  there  appear  to  be  good  prospects  for  Kirkwood  pro- 
duction in  the  same  territory  (SE.  34  sec.  7  and  SW.  34  sec.  8)  where  the 
Kirkwood  sand  rises  to  the  north. 

The  presence  of  the  terrace  in  the  S W.  34  sec.  7  and  the  N W.  34  sec. 
18  suggests  the  possibility  that  Kirkwood  or  McClosky  production  or  both 
might  be  extended  westward  from  the  producing  wells  in  sec.  18. 

In  developing  Kirkwood  production  in  this  area  care  should  be  taken 
not  to  penetrate  the  water-bearing  sand  below  the  shale  break.  Because 
of  the  risk  of  breaking  into  the  water  sand  it  is  not  considered  advisable  to 
shoot  the  upper  part  of  the  sand  if  commercial  production  can  be  obtained 
without  shooting. 


11      (89) 


